French Clubs Angle to Hoist the H Cup

Triumph in Europe's rugby championship tournament is now a priority as nation experiences a revival

By

Huw Richards

Updated Jan. 15, 2010 9:19 a.m. ET

In France, the Heineken Cup—rugby union's answer to football's Champions League—is the tournament that dare not speak its name. Restrictions on alcohol advertising mean it is known as either the Coupe de Europe or the H Cup, the sponsor's initial happily evoking rugby posts.

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Clermont Ferrand's Jamie Cudmore (center) powers his way through the Leicester Tigers' defense during their Heineken European Cup match in December.
Associated Press

Whatever they call it, French fans will be firmly focused on the Cup this weekend as it reaches round five of its six-match pool stage. Three French clubs—Toulouse, Biarritz and Stade Français— lead their groups with a fourth, Clermont Auvergne, handily placed.

Getting all four into the playoffs would reverse long-term competitive trends.

Though France supplied the Heineken's first two winners—Toulouse and Brive—it couldn't maintain that dominance. Toulouse has won twice more to become the only three-time winner, but no other French club has triumphed since Brive's win in 1997. Since then, four English clubs —both Leicester and Wasps twice— and all three participating Irish provinces have lifted the trophy.

The number of French teams reaching the knockout rounds has also been in decline.

For five consecutive seasons prior to the 2003-2004 campaign, France had three quarter-finalists to England's two. In the following two seasons, they had three each. In each year since, England has placed three quarter-finalists, while France had two for two years, then reached a new low last season. For the first time its teams lost more matches than they won. Only Toulouse made the last eight, and was promptly eliminated by Cardiff.

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Serge Blanco, president of French Top 14 rugby club Biarritz.
AFP

To explain France's current revival, it is necessary to ask why the country has performed so comparatively poorly of late, with only two losing finalists during the past four seasons.

Serge Blanco, speaking with unique authority as arguably France's greatest player, a recent president of the French League and the current president of Biarritz, says the French Top 14 competition's long competitive heritage— advantageous in the Heineken's early days—has become a handicap.

Ask British or Irish players and fans to choose between a domestic prize and the Heineken, and they'll invariably choose the European trophy. The French, with a championship dating back to 1892 whose final pulls in 80,000-plus crowds, are different. "Our championship is very important. It is the main priority for most clubs," Mr. Blanco says. "The Coupe de Europe is a bonus."

The Top 14 is also longer and more draining, with 26 regular-season matches to 22 in England and 16 in the Celtic League.

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Yet attitudes toward the Heineken Cup are changing. Asked what he regards as Biarritz's priority this season, Mr. Blanco says: "For me, it is more important to win the Coupe de Europe." Biarritz has won three French titles since 2002, so a European trophy would raise its status.

He believes more French clubs think his way: "The difference now is that more clubs think they can win in Europe and are regarding it as a priority."

In addition, those clubs are increasingly equipped to chase two targets. Armed with a new television deal and booming attendances, French clubs have been flexing their financial muscles. Damian Hopley, chief executive of England's Professional Rugby Players Association (PRA) says, "The top French clubs have squads of international depth and quality. They could compete in the Six Nations championship."

Mr. Blanco says talk of a cross-channel disparity in salaries and resources is "exaggerated," yet the French salary cap of €8 million ($11.65 million) planned for next year is well above the current English cap of £4.1 million ($6.67 million).

Ian Moriarty, the French expert for rugby Web site scrum.com, has written that the €8 million salary limit is considerably more than any Top 14 club currently spends on its playing budget, but no English club could match the €6 million that Toulouse pays its players.

Leading players have also been lured to France by shifting exchange rates. French rugby weekly Midi Olympique has estimated average Top 14 pay at €132,000 while the PRA reckons the English Premiership mean is roughly £75,000—a disparity close to 60%.

Three years ago, with the euro at €1.50 to the pound, rather than the current €1.12, it would have been below 20%. At current exchange rates, France enjoys a substantial advantage. Mr. Hopley also points out, "It isn't solely about money. Players get the chance to experience a different culture."

It all influences the decisions made by the best players in a global market encompassing prime talent from the southern hemisphere as well as France, Britain and Ireland.

It also brings full circle the situation described by French captain Philippe Saint André in 1997, when the introduction of professionalism in English rugby threatened to damage French fortunes.

"We are being left behind, and before long players will start looking to their pocketbooks rather than their quality of life," he said.

It was also around then that English clubs began to make an impact in Europe.

The euro zone advantage isn't confined to France, and Ireland's teams are already Heineken giants, winners in three of the past four years. But real French commitment should bring renewed success. What else, after all, is competitive advantage for?

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